The present invention relates to compositions for melting ice on surfaces such as streets, parking lots, sidewalks, etc.
There are many products now used for melting ice and snow. These products can be, but are not limited to, hygroscopic salts such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride; fertilizers such as potassium chloride and urea; and rock salt and non-slip aggregates like sand, cinders and calcined diatomaceous earth absorbents.
These current commercial products have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, the hygroscopic salts are excellent low-temperature melters, but are expensive and cause slippery conditions when overused. Fertilizers cause minimal problems on runoff as they will aid surrounding vegetation, but as ice melters they have very poor characteristics. Rock salt is inexpensive, will kill vegetation on heavy runoff and has poor ice melting properties. Aggregates, like sand, do not melt or solubilize, and therefore have difficulty embedding into ice to provide a non-slip surface.
To address some of these disadvantages, blends have been employed, but each ingredient acts independently with little to no synergistic effect. Agglomerates such as shown in our previous patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,869 issued May 18, 1993, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, have been successful, but they are complex in their manufacture and are limited in their ability to synergistically coact with a wide range of base materials.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new ice melting composition, and method for making the same, which allows for a coacting synergistic relationship between the ingredients to provide a commercially acceptable, flowable product at economic prices, and a product that effectively allows good ice melt, favorable abrasion or grip properties, and which avoids undesirable environmental problems caused by runoff, such as vegetation kill. This invention has as its primary objective the fulfillment of this need.
The method and manner of accomplishing this primary objective as well as other objectives will be apparent from the description below.